Cuomo in Billion-Pound Manure Fight as New York Promotes Yogurt
By Freeman Klopott
All that stands between dairy farmer Kerry Adams and expanding her herd of cows to tap New York’s booming yogurt industry is 1 billion pounds of manure.
Adams was planning to take advantage of a change Governor Andrew Cuomo pushed through this year that allows farmers to increase their herds to 299 from 199 before permits are required, which can add more than $150,000 to expansion costs. Then environmental groups sued to block the move, saying expanding dairy production will add 1 billion pounds (454 million kilograms) of unregulated cow dung annually, damaging waterways.
“It’s frustrating,” said Adams, who is keeping her herd at 195 while she awaits the lawsuit’s outcome. “As farmers, we’re very conscious of being stewards of the land.”
Led by Greek-style yogurt and its biggest U.S. maker, New Berlin, New York-based Chobani Inc., producers of the fermented milk product have added more than 1,300 jobs upstate since 2007. Cuomo, 55, a first-term Democrat heading into an election year, says yogurt is a key to boosting the region’s struggling economy.
Read more at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-22/cuomo-in-billion-pound-manure-fight-as-new-york-promotes-yogurt.html